MOT & Car Tax Reminders · Free
Free MOT and Car Tax Reminders, by Email
Two dates decide whether your car is legal to drive, and nobody is guaranteed to remind you about either. Give us a registration and we'll watch both, using DVLA and DVSA records.
- MOT expiry and tax renewal, both tracked from one reg
- Three warnings: 30 days, 7 days and the day itself
- Dates read from official DVLA and DVSA records
- No password to set and no card details, ever
- One-click unsubscribe in every email we send
Reminders are a free service from Free Car Checks and are not sent by, or on behalf of, DVLA or DVSA. They sit alongside any official reminder you receive rather than replacing it. See our terms for full details.
Free MOT & tax reminders for your vehicle
- Always free
- No password to set
- Unsubscribe in one click
What you get with free MOT and tax reminders
One registration, both deadlines, three warnings each. Set it up once and the next thing you hear from us is an email telling you a date is coming.
MOT expiry alerts
We read your MOT expiry date from the DVSA test record and warn you while there is still time to book a slot, get repairs done and retest if it fails.
Car tax alerts
Your vehicle tax due date comes from the DVLA register, so the reminder lands whether or not a V11 arrives in the post.
Both in one place
MOT is DVSA, tax is DVLA, and the two never talk to you together. Here they do, from a single email address you already read.
Free, and easy to leave
No fee, no card, no password. Every reminder carries a one-click unsubscribe, and you can switch alerts off from your dashboard whenever you like.
How It Works
Setting up reminders takes about as long as reading this sentence.
1. Enter Your Reg and Email
Two fields, one button. No password to invent and no card details to hand over.
2. We Read DVLA & DVSA
We look up the tax due date and MOT expiry held against your plate, and show them to you straight away.
3. We Email Before the Deadline
Three warnings for each date: a month out, a week out, and on the day it expires.
When your reminders arrive
Three emails per deadline, spaced so each one is useful. The first gives you room to plan, the second is a nudge, the third is the last word before your car stops being legal.
| When | What it's for |
|---|---|
| 30 days before | The planning email. Enough notice to get an MOT slot at a garage you actually trust rather than whoever can fit you in on Friday, and enough time to budget for the tax or set up a Direct Debit. |
| 7 days before | The nudge. If the MOT is still unbooked, this is the point where a failure would leave you no room to fix faults and retest before the certificate runs out. |
| On the day | The deadline email. From tomorrow the car is untaxed or untested, which means it cannot legally be driven or kept on a public road. |
Reminders run from the dates on your most recent check. Every email includes a one-click link to re-run the check, which rolls your dates forward for the next cycle.
Why official reminders go missing
Most drivers assume the paperwork will find them. DVLA posts a V11 tax reminder to the registered keeper, and plenty of garages send a courtesy note when an MOT is coming up. Both are helpful, and neither is a guarantee. The V11 goes to the address DVLA holds, which is only right if you have kept it right. The garage reminder depends on you going back to the same garage.
The gap tends to open at exactly the moment life is busiest. You move house and the V5C update slips down the list. You buy a car in March and the logbook takes weeks to arrive in your name. You bring a vehicle back from SORN, or register a new one, and the usual rhythm of letters has not started yet. In each case the deadline is real and the reminder never comes.
The common causes are worth knowing, because most of them are fixable in ten minutes on gov.uk once you have spotted them:
Your address is out of date
DVLA writes to the address on the V5C. If you moved and did not update it, the V11 is arriving at your old letterbox.
The V5C is not in your name yet
After a sale, DVLA needs to process the transfer before it recognises you as the keeper. Until then, reminders are not addressed to you.
You never opted into digital
DVLA email and text updates are opt-in. Without that, post is the only channel, and post can go astray.
The vehicle is newly registered or off SORN
A car that has just joined the register, or just come back from an off-road declaration, may not be in the reminder cycle yet.
Your MOT was done somewhere new
Garage reminders come from the garage that tested you last time. Switch garages and that safety net quietly disappears.
It went to spam, or the bin
A single letter or email in a busy month is easy to lose. Three spaced reminders from a source you recognise are much harder to miss.
Our reminders sidestep all of this because they are tied to your registration and your email address, not to a postal address DVLA holds. Change house, change garage, change car: the alerts keep working. You can also confirm where you stand right now with a free car check, which returns tax status, MOT expiry and mileage together.
What a V11 tax reminder is, and what's on it
The V11 is the letter DVLA sends to the registered keeper shortly before vehicle tax is due, usually a few weeks ahead of the expiry date. It is a prompt rather than a bill, and its real value is the reference number printed on it: a 16-digit code that lets you renew online or by phone in about two minutes without hunting for any other paperwork.
Alongside that reference, the V11 confirms the registration number it relates to, the date the current tax runs out, and the amounts payable across the annual, six-monthly and monthly Direct Debit options. If your vehicle is exempt, for example a car in the historic class or one registered as disabled, the letter still arrives, because exempt vehicles must still be taxed at £0 each year rather than simply ignored.
What the V11 is not is a legal requirement to have in your hand. Nothing about your obligation to tax the vehicle depends on the letter turning up, and "I never got my reminder" is not a defence DVLA accepts. That asymmetry is the whole argument for a second, independent reminder: the consequence of the letter going missing falls entirely on you.
If you want to see what the renewal will actually cost before it lands, our car tax calculator works it out from your vehicle's emissions, fuel type and registration date, and the car tax bands guide explains why two similar cars can sit in very different brackets.
How to tax your car without a V11 reminder
You do not need the V11. Any one of three documents carries a reference number DVLA will accept, and one of them is almost certainly in your glovebox or your kitchen drawer right now:
V5C logbook
11-digit reference
The registration certificate in your name. The number is on the front of the document.
V5C/2 green slip
12-digit reference
The new keeper supplement handed over when you buy a car, for use while the full V5C is still being processed.
V62 application
For a lost logbook
Applies for a replacement V5C. Allow several weeks, so do not leave it until the week your tax expires.
With a reference in hand you can tax online through the GOV.UK vehicle tax service at any hour, by phone with DVLA, or in person at a Post Office branch that handles vehicle tax. Online is the fastest and updates the register within minutes, which is why a status check run straight afterwards already shows the change.
One condition catches people out: you cannot tax a vehicle that needs an MOT and does not have a valid one. The two systems are linked, so an expired MOT blocks the tax renewal outright. That is the practical reason these two dates belong on the same reminder rather than in separate mental compartments, and it is why the 30-day MOT warning matters more than it first appears.
Our guide to taxing a car walks through each route step by step, and the V5C logbook guide covers what to do when the document itself has gone missing.
What it costs to miss the date
Neither deadline is policed by chance. DVLA checks its own register electronically, and ANPR cameras read plates against it continuously, so an untaxed car does not need to be pulled over to be noticed. The MOT record is equally visible. Missing a date is not a risk you take, it is a countdown you start.
Driving or keeping an untaxed vehicle
- An automated late licensing penalty from DVLA, currently £80, typically halved if you pay promptly.
- Escalation to court, where the fine can reach £1,000 or five times the annual duty, whichever is greater.
- Clamping or removal of the vehicle, with a release fee and daily storage charges on top of the tax you still owe.
- The obligation applies even when the car is parked on a public road and never driven. Only a SORN declaration lifts it.
Driving without a valid MOT
- A fine of up to £1,000 for using a vehicle on a public road without a current test certificate.
- Up to £2,500, three penalty points and a possible driving ban if the vehicle is found to be in a dangerous condition.
- A blocked tax renewal, because you cannot tax a car that needs an MOT and does not have one.
- Insurance trouble. Many policies require the vehicle to be roadworthy and properly documented, so a lapsed MOT can put a claim in doubt at the worst possible moment. Check your own policy wording rather than assuming.
Set against all of that, three emails are a cheap insurance policy. The most expensive part of a missed MOT is rarely the fine, it is discovering a failure with two days left and no slot available at any garage within twenty miles.
How our reminders differ from DVLA and DVSA's
DVSA runs a free MOT reminder service and DVLA offers digital tax updates if you opt in. Both are worth having, and we would rather you had all three than argued about which is best. What we add is independence and a single view.
Independence matters because official reminders are tied to the contact details on the official record. If those details are stale, so is the reminder. Ours are tied to the email address you typed in yourself, which is by definition an address you use. The registration is the only thing linking the two, and a registration does not move house.
A single view matters because tax and MOT are administered by two different agencies that do not send you a combined calendar. In practice most drivers hold one date roughly in mind and lose track of the other. Watching both from one signup is the entire point: you stop having to remember which agency owns which deadline.
We read the same underlying sources they do. Tax status and the tax due date come from the DVLA vehicle enquiry record; MOT expiry and test history come from the DVSA MOT record. We are not affiliated with either agency and we do not send anything on their behalf.
Check where you stand right now
Setting a reminder tells you what happens next. If you would rather know where the car stands today, every one of these is free and takes a registration and nothing else.
- Free car check — tax status, MOT expiry, mileage and DVLA identity in one result.
- MOT history check — every test on file, with failures, advisories and the mileage recorded each time.
- Car tax calculator — what the next twelve months of vehicle tax will cost you.
- SORN status check — whether an off-road declaration is currently in force.
Not sure when your test is actually due? Our guide on when your MOT is due explains how the renewal date is set and how testing early keeps it where it is.
100% free • Email reminders
Never miss an MOT or tax date
Enter your reg and email. We'll warn you 30 days, 7 days and one day before each deadline.
Selling up, going off-road, or switching reminders off
Reminders should stop the moment they stop being useful, and turning them off is deliberately easier than turning them on. Every email we send carries an unsubscribe link that works in one click, with no login and no confirmation step. If you would rather manage things in one place, your dashboard lists every vehicle you have saved with a switch beside each one.
When you sell a car, tell DVLA straight away so the transfer is recorded, then turn the reminder off at your end. The new keeper becomes responsible for tax and MOT from the moment they take over, and any full months of tax you have already paid are refunded to you automatically. Our guide on car tax refunds covers how and when that money comes back.
Declaring the vehicle SORN has a similar effect. While an off-road declaration stands, the car needs neither tax nor an MOT, so there is nothing for a reminder to warn you about. Reminders become useful again the day you decide to put it back on the road, and you can re-register the plate for alerts in seconds. The complete SORN guide runs through declaring, cancelling and what the rules actually allow.
Unsubscribing stops future emails for that vehicle. It does not delete the free car checks saved to your account, which stay available in your dashboard until you remove them or close the account entirely.
A note on Northern Ireland
MOT testing in Northern Ireland is run by the Driver & Vehicle Agency rather than DVSA, and DVA results are not part of the DVSA test record our checks read. We therefore cannot send MOT reminders for vehicles tested in Northern Ireland, and their MOT history will not appear in our results.
Vehicle tax is administered UK-wide by DVLA, so tax data is more likely to be available. If you set up a reminder and we hold no usable dates for your vehicle, the confirmation on screen will say so plainly rather than leave you assuming you are covered.
MOT and car tax reminder FAQ
Are the MOT and tax reminders really free?
How many reminders will I get, and when?
Do I need to create an account or set a password?
Do I get a car tax reminder from DVLA anyway?
What is a V11 and when does it arrive?
Can I tax my car without a V11?
Why didn't I get a tax or MOT reminder?
How do I check when my MOT is due?
How do I check whether my car is taxed or SORN?
Can I set reminders for more than one vehicle?
What happens if I sell the car?
How do I unsubscribe?
Will you sell or share my email address?
What happens if I miss my MOT date?
Can I drive to an MOT test if my MOT has expired?
Do you cover Northern Ireland?
Will the reminders keep going year after year?
MOT guides
All guides →The Complete MOT Guide: Tests, Costs, Rules and Results
Everything about the UK MOT in one guide: what's tested, what it costs, when it's due, what the results mean, and what happens if your car fails.
Understanding MOT Results: What Your Certificate Really Says
How to read an MOT result: pass and fail categories, advisories, the VT20 and VT30 certificates, and how to read a car's full test history like a story.
MOT Advisories Explained: What They Mean and Which Ones Matter
What an MOT advisory actually means, the post-2018 defect categories, which advisories matter, and how to read advisory patterns before you buy a used car.
When Is My MOT Due? Check Any UK Car in Seconds
How to check any car's MOT due date free, the one-month-minus-a-day early renewal window, first-MOT rules for new cars, and the penalties for driving without one.
MOT Exemption: How the 40-Year Rolling Rule Works
How the rolling 40-year MOT exemption works: eligibility, the substantially changed rules, the V112 declaration, and what exemption doesn't change about roadworthiness.
The Most Common MOT Failures (and How to Avoid Them)
Around three in ten cars fail their MOT first time, mostly on lights, tyres, brakes and suspension. The common failure points and the 10-minute pre-test checklist.
Car tax guides
All guides →Car Tax Bands Explained: 2026/27 VED Rates for Every UK Car
Every UK car tax band for 2026/27: the £200 standard rate, £440 Expensive Car Supplement, first-year CO2 rates, EV rules, and the older pre-2017 and pre-2001 systems.
How to Tax a Car: Online, by Phone or at the Post Office
Step-by-step guide to taxing a car online, by phone or at the Post Office: which reference number you need, how to pay, and taxing a car you've just bought.
Electric Car Tax Explained: EV Road Tax Rates for 2026/27
Electric cars now pay road tax. Every EV and hybrid rate for 2026/27: the £200 standard rate, the £10 first year, the £50,000 supplement rule and used-EV buying tips.
Expensive Car Supplement Explained: Who Pays the Extra £440
The Expensive Car Supplement adds £440 a year to VED in years two to six for cars listed over £40,000 when new: how it works and how to spot it before you buy.
Car Tax Refunds: How to Get Your Road Tax Back from the DVLA
When the DVLA refunds car tax automatically, how much you get back, how and when the cheque arrives, and why refunds go missing when the V5C address is out of date.
Two dates. Three warnings each. No more surprises.
Add your registration and email once, and the next time an MOT or tax deadline comes round you will hear about it with a month to spare. Free, and one click to leave.
Set up free reminders